Where aircraft are stored during a pandemic?

The coronavirus pandemic, in addition to the huge financial losses to the airline industry, has brought many problems that need to be addressed. One of them is where aircraft are stored during a pandemic and how to maintain all the planes that will have to be grounded indefinitely? To store idle planes is one of several challenges facing the airline industry.

Of course, there is a procedure concerning how the aircraft are stored and what measures are taken in such circumstances. Many factors could lead to the decision to send an aircraft to his facility, however, this is a very specific situation. The system isn’t meant for that amount of planes to be anyplace else apart from in the air.

Process of storing aircraft

An unused plane demands constant maintenance and planes are complex pieces of machinery. That maintenance requires people with sophisticated skill sets. Lots of maintenance is needed on the aircraft to ensure that it’s in a maintainable condition when it comes back to service. Keeping aircraft fresh and fit for purpose will make that so much easier.

Numerous standard procedures are taken to keep the aircraft in good condition. This involves draining the normal oil and placing preservative oil inside the tanks. You need to secure the aircraft entirely. Certain systems have to be deactivated, all the openings and all windows are covered, so as the landing gear and tires to protect them from the elements. Those sheets are made from special materials created to withstand the heat.

An important part of maintaining any parked airplane is looking after the tires. Airplanes have their tires to be rotated every seven to fourteen days to avoid flat spots. Thorough cleaning of the aircraft is also undertaken. The interior clean is what’s called a deep clean. High-grade disinfectants are used to clean surfaces including walls, seats, armrests, and IFE screens.

Struggling to find storage space

The logistical complexities of where to park thousands of airplanes are made even more complex by the technicalities expected when storing planes. Airlines around the world are coming up with different ways to solve this problem. Aircraft boneyards provide a diversity of operational services, including temporary storage, maintenance, parts reclamation, and scrapping.

Airliner boneyards & storage facilities in the USA serve several functions: temporary storage, maintenance, parts reclamation, and scrapping. Similar facilities exist around the world, in countries like the U.K., Spain, France, Australia, Scotland, and other locales.

The coronavirus outbreak has pushed so many planes out of service that the business of storing aircraft is taking off. But let us emphasize once again that this service is not cheap at all. Aircraft storage facilities typically charge a base rate simply for parking a plane. The biggest expense is the cost of the aircraft services to keep the plane maintained and ready to return to operation. The amount and type of maintenance that must be done to an idle plane depends on how soon the airline hopes to return the aircraft to operation

For example, major European hubs can charge in the region of$ 285 an hour. Airplanes are parked in remote desert airports, with the hope that the aircraft will be back in the air shortly. Given the high maintenance costs, many planes will never take off again. The longer the pandemic lasts, the more aircraft will be disassembled and used for spare parts.